Secrets

So...I have been on the road for a while and the swift change of weather saw me have the worse throat infection I could ever ask for.
Well, this is the second time that I have had a throat infection and it's painful.

So, I couldn't speak for one whole day and this got on my nerves. I also had short bouts of fever and a headache that made me yearn for some morphine even the sight of it could have cured me of the pain, but now am all set.
It's been time well spent reading books and learning more from the people around me.
I get to know like my friend Anita- who is on my side and who isn't. Let's face it, a friend in the family is difficult to know. So, while I was at it- I bought The Reader and it got me asking 'how far would I go to protect a secret?'

In a nutshell- say you know of someone you love and they agree to be sentenced to life so the whole world would not know they are illiterate, would you sit and watch them being escorted out of court and you knew what would save them? It's what just made me stop and think of all the things that happen. Especially in families- and how many secrets and little lies we keep to save face.

A suitor (yes, I just used that word- consider it a Jane Austen influence) told me once that a few secrets was all it took to flame love. He found it enchanting that I was mysterious and so he concluded that I had secrets that made him desire me. Totally foolish I know- but that's what you get when you take chocolate instead of coffee and cake when you are out on a date!

Back to what I was saying about secrets- and the Reader- life is full of so much that all that matters is what we make of it. We are like sieves, some have to big a hole others have too small a hole. We simply take in what we want and what we feel suits us to achieve some end. So, in this sieving process we can choose to accept an end to what might seem bleak but to us it is better that us not taking the step in the first place.

People have secrets.
They keep secrets. Some for good reasons, others simply for selfish and malicious reasons. But, you have to know that people are entitled to keep their secrets, they can choose a life sentence over telling the world they are illiterate- that is their taking. That is how they have chosen to face that challenge and as a friend, neighbor or confidante- as their love you need to accept that. It might take you years or even an eternity- but you have to accept that, because they have chosen not to be answerable to anyone who'd condemn them or shun them, who are you to be that person?

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How can one change the world if one identifies oneself with everybody?